So this was a very big weekend for Cheese by Hand… Sasha and I made our way up to Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, VT to do a “dry run” of our up-coming trip. Greensboro is in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, a name which I find both amazingly boastful yet accurate! Brothers Andy and Mateo Kehler have been kind to my wife and me for over two years now - we have visited the farm before and they always make us feel welcome and part of the family.

Andy handles the animals, in this case 35 milking Ayrshire cows, which requires two milkings a day, every day, no matter what. I do not envy Andy’s job. His wife, Victoria, runs the cellar - aging and maturing the cheeses before they go out into the wild.

Mateo handles the cheesemaking. They are a raw milk maker and have developed five cheese to date. Mateo is always experimenting and looking to make new cheeses. His wife Angie runs the Accounts Payable and Receivable, as well as the website and their 15 month-old son, Reed.

I realized this weekend that finding a quiet room to record audio is going to be quite a challenge on a working farm… there is always something going on. Compressors, motors, cleaning, moo-ing - well moo-ing is ok. But we will do our best to capture the sights and sounds on the farm. And hopefull get better every time. Here are a few shots from Jasper Hill.